The curse and boon of our industry is its ease of distribution. If you can produce a video, it’s up in as long as it takes for YouTube to process it.

The curse comes because with a more typical path of distribution there are people who will look at your show and consider if it really should be made. (Of course, that’s its own double-edged sword; great shows will be overlooked because an executive ate a ham sandwich instead of his usual egg salad that day.)

This is the problem I have with Starvival. From the storyline to the shooting style to the painfully obvious link baiting episode titles, this is a show of vanity and low self-esteem to the point of outright self-degradation.

The premise is like so: Danielle Barker—doing all of it off ‘cell phone and a half broken camcorder’—goes after her dreams of being a Hollywood star while resorting to the most insane odd-jobs she can find. One of these jobs is being tickled for $50, found on none other than Craigslist. Think a scarier, non-scripted version of Odd Jobs.

Barker claims that what occurs on the videos are real, and we of the YouTube post-lonelygirl15 generation are quick to assume fake. She wants us to believe it’s real, she insists on the show itself that everything happened as filmed, but I’m still not completely buying it.

That said, regardless of its authenticity, Danielle, I’d like to ask: What the heck are you doing?

I could literally only sit through the first episode, because what I watched was the complete transition from down-on-her-luck-girl to the Hollywood nightmare scenario of a young, pretty girl lowering herself to the dregs of society and… okay, I spent ten minutes looking for a different way to say this: She whored herself out in some of the most degrading fashions possible. And worse yet: She’s trying to make it funny and lighthearted. As if this is something for us to root for.

“[Starvival] appeals to parents who fear for their children’s safety while satisfying the widespread curiosity about the online world of web-scams and oddities,” wrote Barker about the series. It’s Exhibit A for parents to use to further lock their children up. And while I don’t ascribe to knee-jerk “protect the children” reactions – I would consider parents’ reactions to this perfectly rational.

The editing, while schizophrenic, is effective in getting us into the mind of the main subject—Danielle. It’s just that I’m not sure we want to go there.

In reviewing Kick-Ass, Roger Ebert gave the film zero stars, because he found the glorification of violence and the children committing said violence absolutely reprehensible. While I’ve got a decent sized ego on me, I’m not so arrogant to think that I’m above that man and should try and find something artistically viable for something that is so patently offensive.

What’s worse, that it could be real and we’re watching a young woman willingly put herself in physical danger and ask us to laugh along? Or that it’s completely scripted, and this is a show trying to take the fears for our children and spin it into something breezy and lighthearted, while using clearly provocative titles to blatantly titllate? I don’t know what upsets me more – the complete lack of standards for oneself, or (if it’s scripted), the blatant attempts at manipulating me?

What makes this sort of bottom-feeding different from the gleefully nihilistic It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia is that Sunny has the full-on awareness that their characters are reprehensible. Starvival pays lip service to these deeds being less-than-ideal with a “don’t try at home” disclaimer, and brief pauses and starts that are little more than the equivalent of “this girl is so crazy, isn’t she?” My answer: Absolutely terrifying that the typical Hollywood story of “artist grasps for fame, finds debauchery” is played so cavalier.

Win, Fail or Trainwreck: This show Fails on so many fronts. It fails to understand, much less acknowledege, that doing these things at all are reprehensible – no matter if the show creator knows it herself. It fails to acknowledge that a father’s extremely rational worry for her daughter – whether real or scripted – isn’t fodder for cheap laughs. It fails at being a show worth watching.

Filed under: Articles, Reality, Reviews, Web Series, YouTube by Logan Rapp
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Today Sony’s Crackle launched the first three episodes of its sixteen-episode comedy series Held Up, written and executive produced by fraternal comedy duo the Sklar Brothers. The series, directed by Paul Blart: Mall Cop director Steve Carr, chronicles a bored bank teller’s life changing experience as two separate teams of dim-witted bank robbers try to bust the same bank simultaneously.

The series is produced by Jamie Tarses and stars It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia’s Kaitlin Olson, The League’s Nick Kroll, and The Sarah Silverman Program’s Steve Agee, with Cyrs Farmer, Jon Dore, Suzy Nakamura, Eddie Pepitone, Har Mar Superstar, Tig Notaro, and the Sklar Brothers themselves.

As the story proceeds, the hostages fall victim to the two pairs of idiot robbers—disguised as Rocky I, Rocky II, Batman, and Robin—and begin sympathizing with their captors in a weird, comedic version of the Stockholm Syndrome. “In the same way that we really love the relationship, and who doesn’t, between Niles and Frasier Crane—that they made Niles even farther to the right than Frasier—we thought how great would it be if Jon is this total smartass, but we have Kaitlin, who is so strong comedically, and he falls in love with her from a comedy perspective,” Randy Sklar told Entertainment Weekly in a recent interview.

The first three episodes, “Pilot,” “A List Can Be Demanding,” and “Mastermind Masturbator” premiere today. New episodes air weekdays until September 24.

Filed under: Articles, Web Series by Drew Baldwin
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If Scott Robson knows three things, it’s movies, television, and online video. The current Vice President of Movie Content at MTV Networks has a resume ridden with properties and programs that bring news, gossip, and information about the silver and small screens to your computer screen.

As Editor-in-Chief at AOL Moviefone and AOL Television, Robson revitalized one of Moviefone’s flagship online video properties, Unscripted (an interactive take on blasé press junkets, where stars interview each other by way of user-submitted questions) and created a handful of his own; including The Show Girl (a fast-paced update of what’s on TV with host Maggie Furlong), The Moviephone Minute (movie news and commentary in 180 seconds or less), and Outside the Box (like Unscripted, except with a focus on television). Before that, Robson was Executive Producer at the Los Angels Times’ awards insider, The Envelope and Editor-in-Chief at E! Online.

So, when MTV was looking to develop a stand-alone website devoted to major motion pictures, they knew just who to call. Late last week, after six months on the job, Robson and his team quietly launched Next Movie. Over the phone, Robson told me how the site came to be:

“We know the MTV demo is very big into movies. We just think there’s a real opportunity out there right now in terms of where MTV is in regards to movie fans.”

At first, that explanation doesn’t make much sense. MTV has a movie blog and a movie awards show with a multi-million dollar production budget, but Robson is quick to point out how those properties can get lost in the fray. When you’re under the same overarching MTV banner as Jersey Shore and 16 and Pregnant, your URL can be tough to find.

And NextMovie.com is worth discovering. So far, the nascent nexus for movie fans boasts a steady influx of written commentary and two original web series.

Nar Williams (who the E3 and Comic Con set may recognize from his Crave web series, Fanboy Funhouse) and McKenna Maduli play host on NextMovie Daily, a frenetic newscast highlighting top stories in the entertainment industry. The Screen Saviours features the so hot right now comedy duo of Pete and Brian (whose web show, Fact Checkers Unit recently debuted on NBC.com). It’s like Siskel & Ebert, except it stars two sketch comedians and shows a complete lack of reverence towards film.

As of now, the web series on Next Movie are sponsor free, but look for that to change as ad sales and marketing for the shows (and the site) kick into full gear. Also, be on the lookout for more content.

Robson noted the “Beta” under the Next Movie logo is there for a reason. As the site finds its footing, its programming slate will grow to meet the demands of its audience. Robson also explained how his team is looking to make Next Movie a focal point for movie fans, a place where they can “be engaged, and find, share, and talk about the stuff they like.”

Filed under: Articles, Featured, MTV, News, Web Series by Joshua Cohen
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Michael Friedman is quite possibly the Sly Stallone of web series. And if that’s the case then The Super Man is his Rocky. The Philly native, an actor-writer who now calls LA home, is no stranger to the comparison, having worked a healthy adoration of the famed boxer into his self-portrayed lead character Mike, the Super of a East LA apartment building. This is something Friedman knows all too well, having been a real-life building superintendent since moving out to LA to pursue an acting career.

Over a year ago, its four-part pilot hit the web standing out as one of the better indie web comedies that year. The positive reception was enough for Friedman and his team to head back into production on a full season of the series.

The new season, which they are calling Season 2, premieres online tomorrow online with three new episodes every two weeks. It’s a notable step up in polish from the early episodes, and it recently took home the Audience Award at the Independent Television Festival (ITVFest) this summer. Bryan Beasley directed the new season which stars Friedman alongside Gregory Konow and Brendan Connor.

The festival win attracted Kapital Entertainment, Executive Producers of the new FOX series Terra Nova, to sign on to formally pitch The Super Man to television as a half-hour comedy. Comedy manager John MacDonald has also teamed up with Friedman after seeing the early pilot.

“I see The Super Man working really well with a network that is on board with the tone and style of the show,” Freidman tells us. “There are a lot of cable channels, specifically F/X, Spike TV and TBS that have given opportunities to independent writers and their projects in the past.”

Friedman’s plan is to keep himself attached to star in the project should it get the nod from TV, the same move that would launch Stallone’s career after he penned the original Rocky.

Filed under: Articles, Comedy, Featured, News, Vimeo, Web Series by Marc Hustvedt
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[This is the latest column from Tubefilter News’ resident new media legal expert, James C. Roberts. Last time in Part 2 of a two-part series on ownership rights at major video sites he tackled reader questions on the legal rights of video uploading to YouTube. This week’s is all about the world of seemingly simple, but sometimes confusing non-disclosure agreements.]

Q: A company has asked our company to sign an NDA that covers everything their management gives us or tells us and we cannot disclose any of it for five years. What do you think?

A: NDAs (non-disclosure agreements) can have some pretty stringent provisions and still be valid (i.e., a court will probably enforce the agreement). Ultimately, NDAs are subject to standards of “reasonableness” if someone goes to court over them. This type of agreement would probably be found to be enforceable (though it will depend on many other factors).

Permit us to answer your two questions (and you have 18 more).

1. Information covered: Most NDAs limit the definition of “Confidential Information” by specifying what the information will be and then including “carve-outs” or exceptions for materials already known by the recipient and/or already in the public domain (among other exceptions). Sometimes an NDA covers everything (i.e., there is no definition), subject to those carve-outs (i.e., those materials are not covered by the NDA). On rare occasions, there are no exceptions. The first option is more reasonable but they are probably both acceptable. The absence of the carve-outs may add to the argument that the agreement is unreasonable. We prefer a pretty specific description of the Confidential Information.

2. Time period: The NDA should make clear that it is five years from a specific date—and we prefer the “Effective Date” (date of the contract) as the starting point. It is not unreasonable, though, for someone to use the date of termination of the NDA. We don’t like that because some people forget about an NDA, or they forget to put a term on it; one way or another, it can end up being a much longer period. Five years from the Effective Date is pretty standard in the digital, tech and mobile worlds (though it is often only three), but it might be a bit short in Hollywood.

As with other agreements, the terms of an NDA usually get down to the relative market power of each party and the greater need of one party or the other.

Questions about NDAs often arise. We have answered this question below but stay tuned for the first more in-depth article on this subject in what will be a series of pieces on the intricacies of NDAs.

Have a legal question?

James C. Roberts III is the Managing Principal of Global Capital Law Group and CEO of the strategic consulting firm, Global Capital Strategic Group. Between the two groups there are offices in California, Colorado, the East Coast, Shanghai and Milan. He heads the international, mergers & acquisitions and transactional practices and the industry practices concentrating on digital, media, mobile and cleantech technologies. Mr. Roberts speaks English and French and, with any luck, Italian in the distant future. He received his JD from the University of Chicago Law School, his MA from Stanford University and his BS from the University of California Berkeley. Have a question? Email James

This ‘Ask the New Media Attorney’ post discusses general legal issues, but it does not constitute legal advice in any respect. No reader should act or refrain from acting on the basis of any information presented without seeking the advice of counsel in the relevant jurisdiction. Tubefilter, the author and the author’s firm expressly disclaim all liability in respect of any actions taken or not taken based on any contents of this post.

(Top photo by jk5854.)

Filed under: Articles, Ask the Attorney by James C. Roberts III
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In case you haven’t noticed, this summer has been incubating a deep seeded angst in the web video community. And this week it seems to have boiled over. (Maybe it’s just the heat.)

What’s really going on here is an identity crisis.

A number of blog posts have popped up from web video folks in the past week, starting with The Fine Brothers rant (yes guys, it’s a rant) on how web series need to stop making bad short-form television. Then there’s spytap’s treatise on the subject that argued in another fashion a similar line of thinking.

I too have been preaching that people just getting into web series need to pay more attention to the YouTube community, despite taking some flack for it. It’s why I brought in a new columnist TheWillofDC to cover YouTube for Tubefilter News to give us the low-down on the moves of the week for the top 100 on YouTube–don’t worry he’s coming back after a little hiatus.

Learning From YouTube

Lets look at the YouTube community for a second—and for the sake of this let’s define it as the 350-400 or so active video creators who count YouTube as their primary source of income. They have done two things really well—one, they have leveraged an incredibly popular platform to build and maintain audiences for their channels through the built-in toolset of the site. And second, for the most part, they make something inherently different than what’s found on television.

Interactivity for these guys is so ingrained in how they work that the word barely get said amongst them. It isn’t a buzzword any more than the word “upload” is. iJustine doesn’t sit around thinking she needs to add some more interactive bits to her videos. She just does it inherently.

It comes of course with the package of the character she has created. She makes the choice to overshare. You can either tune in or not, but she’s always on air. Her latest ponderings or questions might come out as tweets, videos of her dancing in a store, or blog posts. But it’s all the same show. Can you imagine trying to break out Season 1 or Season 2 of iJustine?

There is also an unwritten set of rules that most of the top YouTubers follow, with authenticity being the common theme. Take the former #1 most subscribed channel Fred. Fred is falling out of favor amongst the YouTube elite now that his TV deal with Nickelodeon means all of his latest videos reek of overproduced marketing for his forthcoming TV movie.

Ryan Higa (NigaHiga) is now in the top spot on the most subscribed channels list. He’s a 20 year-old college student that is remarkably perceptive at listening to his audience. And he built up his subscriber base on YouTube to over 2 million through, surprise, actually asking people to subscribe to him if they like what they see. Don’t underestimate the platform that is YouTube. This was part of The Fine Brothers’ argument:

[The YouTubers] have realized that YouTube is the site where content creators can build an audience, that YouTube is the only place you can get this massive of an audience, and they have worked hard to establish themselves there because it is pretty much the only site that has proved itself, its infrastructure, and its subscriber system to be able to do so for countless people (vlogger, filmmaker, host or otherwise).

Different Strokes for Different Folks

I’ll be honest, I’ve never been all that comfortable with the term ‘web television’. It feels too restrictive. But there’s a flawed point of logic in the argument that web video should always be something different than what’s on TV or film.

It’s all about what the goals are of the creator (or writer, actor, etc.) when they pick up the camera in the first place. Let’s face it, television and film are where most of the resources in terms of talent and investment dollars are directed. They are both incredibly powerful mediums for storytelling and entertainment that aren’t going away any time soon. And rightly so, there is a new generation of talented people looking to work in those fields.

The internet to them is a place to practice, to experiment and to prove they have something to say. And for many of them, it’s working. That’s why we keep seeing TV networks picking up web series or giving development deals to the creators. GOLD creator David Nett put it this way in his reply to the subject:

For most of us currently making indieTV and distributing it online (most, but not all), what we really want to do is make movies and/or television. Our underlying drive is to be writers or actors or directors of movies or television. And so, thanks to the level playing field that is the internet, we make our movies and television and distribute it in a way we never could until just a few years ago. Some of those shows, like GOLD, would have no likely home in the traditional TV market, despite having found a robust, engaged audience online.

Some creators are looking to build a career in the traditional entertainment industry. And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. To them success might not be their first or second web series, but maybe in the TV pickup of their third one that gives them the resources to really tell their stories on a grand scale.

What Lies Ahead?

I think the savvy web video creators will indeed push the envelope. Or more specifically, play to the internet’s built-in strengths–many-to-many interaction, global exposure, 24/7 availability, etc.

Some already have. Our beloved editor Jenni Powell has teamed up with Philip DeFranco’s new company as a producer, bringing some advanced production experience to an existing base of YouTube talents. BlackBoxTV is the first major project to come out of this collab. This cross pollination of two worlds is essential, especially with so much overlap of both communities in the Los Angeles area.

Steve Woolf of Epic Fu and now blip.tv is also full of insights on this subject, and recently he quipped that in some ways what we’re seeing is a flashback to the early days of television itself back in the 1940’s and 50’s. The Old Guard was just ‘filming radio’ while the innovators were inventing I Love Lucy.

One place to look, aside from the YouTubers, are the ARG innovators. I jumped head first into the No Mimes Media “Webishades” ARG yesterday and found myself being called on my cell phone multiple times by Felicia Day. There’s a wealth of possibility when the four walls start breaking down.

(Top photo by •••annajarske.com)

Filed under: Articles, Featured, Fred, NigaHiga, YouTube by Marc Hustvedt
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When we look back years from now, Ask A Ninja will no doubt be part of that “greatest generation” of web shows—one of the early pioneering YouTube channels that created something so bizarre, delightfully interactive and inherently original that it stuck out of the onslaught of would-be video stars becoming a (digital) household name in the process.

Kent Nichols and Douglas Sarine are the creative duo behind the series, which has charted the ever-changing waters of online video to carve out a not-so-shabby business for themselves that bring in revenue not only from ad revenues on their videos, but merchandising, DVDs, live touring and even a book and an iPhone game.

On October 4—just a month before the show’s five year anniversary— the Ninja is returning with new episodes five times a week. That by the way, is no easy feat, and Nichols and Sarine are veteran enough not to think they can do it all themselves. So the pair tapped another rising web series creator-director Brett Register (The Crew, A Good Knight’s Quest) to come on board as their in-house “day-to-day” producer-director.

“Brett is one of the most prolific and consistent people working in the web video space,” wrote Nichols in his blog post today announcing the new hire. “This is like when your favorite musician brings in a new producer, or a comic book brings in a new artist. Same core, just slightly different execution.”

New lineup:

Monday — The Ninja Shows off shows we like and want to see more of. This will be a way to give back to the community to try and share traffic and promote worthy new shows to gain some audience. They should be shows that appeal the young guy demographic — if you’re responsible for a show that would like to be featured, drop me a line.

Tuesday — Ask A Ninja, this is the Ask A Ninja that you know and love. Quick and fun.

Wednesday — Ask A Ninja Vault/Experimental, this is where bloopers, unaired shows, and new Ninja Charcters and formats will live.

Thursday — Experimental sketch day, a palate cleanser for us and the audience to explore the non-ninja world. This could be anything.

Friday — Ask A Ninja Weekly wrap, the Ninja’s take on the week’s events.

Tubefilter: Will we see some of Brett’s Absolute Disaster works sneaking into the Thursday sketches?

Kent Nichols: The idea behind the sketch day is to be a total palate cleanser for all of us creatively, as well as, be an incubator for new internally generated shows and concepts. So I’m sure there’ll be a lot of similar work being done in that slot, but we haven’t discussed bringing in any of his preexisting properties.

Tubefilter: Is your YouTube channel still the primary hub for the show?

Nichols: We actually went away from YouTube for years, it’s only been in the last 10 months that we’ve returned and joined the Partner Program. But we’re really excited and impressed with what’s going on over there in terms of audience building and monetization, especially for a show like Ask A Ninja. They are really making it possible for indie productions to build something real.

Tubefilter: Any examples of shows or channels you plan on showing off on Mondays? Will you be acting as a distributor of sorts, or just showcasing?

Nichols: It’ll be mostly shows that we just like, though we are producing some new shows that we’ll slot those in there occasionally. The Ninja will do an intro to the show and we’ll be seeking permission and a high quality copy to embed on our channel. We really want it to be about getting “shows and shorts” (i.e., produced not accidental virals) in front of our audience. There’s not a ton of cross promotion in the web show space, and this is our little attempt to fix that.

Filed under: Articles, Comedy, Featured, News, Web Series, YouTube by Marc Hustvedt
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The Threshold: Case Study from No Mimes Media on Vimeo.

I have written quite a few articles for Tubefilter on Transmedia and ARGs and still the quite a few questions seem to remain for quite a few people, “yes, but how do you play an ARG?”, “what is the EXACT definition of Transmedia?”, and “who makes ARGs?”

I may not have the perfect answers for the first two questions (and as you’ll soon read, those creative immersive storytellers haven’t even quite figured out all the answers yet, which is part of what makes doing what they do so exciting), but I can introduce you to one of the companies creating Transmedia content. I had the pleasure to collaborate with No Mimes Media (which was founded by Maureen McHugh, Behnam Karbassi, and Steve Peters) the past few months and took a few moments between all the craziness to shoot them some questions on what they do and how they came about, what they believe Transmedia is, and how to get started if you are a novice ARG player and just want to jump right in.

Tubefilter: What is No Mimes definition of Transmedia?

No Mimes Media: Transmedia is still evolving. Nobody knows what it is yet. But there are some things that are important. It’s multi-platform. It’s interactive. It can also use community, but there have been some pretty cool things that didn’t.

Tubefilter: What do you do at No Mimes?

NMM: We make stories. We make those stories in a new space, this Transmedia space. We’re trying to figure out how to make that work. We’ve had some spectacular successes, and we’ve been part of our share of failures. It’s a little like the earliest days of movies, where people were convinced that if you did a jump cut, there might be members of the audience who were so disturbed by that break in ‘reality’ that they might go crazy.

More specifically, we do a lot of things. Everything from concepting, to designing, to fully producing. We can come up with an idea. We can build a complete roadmap of the experience, a design document that calls out specifics like websites, phone numbers, emails, video and audio content, graphic design directions, tone, suggestions for casting, live events, you name it. And we can make all those things, from websites, to video content. Each collaboration is unique, and clients come with different strengths and different needs.

Tubefilter: When and why was No Mimes Media created?

NMM: We all met working at another company doing Transmedia. We left that company for various reasons; Maureen was traveling weekly from Austin, Texas and finally couldn’t take the grind. The company hit a lean time and laid off Behnam and Steve. But we also felt that it was going in a different, more advertising oriented direction. There’s nothing wrong with that, it just meant that our particular strengths—which revolve around immersive story—weren’t a good fit any more. So we got together and in March of 2009 we launched No Mimes Media.

Tubefilter: What is your most memorable project?

NMM: There is nothing like your first project. Our first project was The Threshold. It was a project for Cisco, for their employees. We had worked together before, but never as just ourselves, and we were still not sure what we could do. There were a lot of reasons why the project shouldn’t work (what they call ‘opportunities’ in corporate speak). But it succeeded way beyond everyone’s expectation. The amazing thing about Transmedia experiences is that many of them unfold in real time. So we were right there, watching the audience figure things out. They were posting things like how they had to take the kids to school now because they were so involved that the kids missed the bus.

Tubefilter: What is especially challenging with that you do?

NMM: There are a lot of challenges. Figuring out how to make the things we do. It’s so new that no one knows the rules. Figuring out how to explain what we do. Friends, even people in our families don’t quite know what we do. It’s hard to, say, go to a party and have someone ask, ‘What do you do?’ and not cringe. ‘I make immersive, interactive Transmedia stories,’ isn’t exactly informative. You can tell people understand the meaning of every word you’ve said, and have no idea what it means. As one friend said, “It’s a little like showing a dog a card trick.”

Tubefilter: What advice would you give someone eager to get into playing ARGs?

NMM: There are more and more people who follow transmedia and there are some resources now. A really good one is ARGNet, but there are more and more resources out there like MovieViral.com, Unfiction.com and a pretty active Twitter community with folks like @argworld, @arginsider and @arg_deaddrop or just a search for #args or #transmedia.

Tubefilter: Where can someone find an ARG to play?

HMM: You never know, a rabbithole might even be on this very page somewhere, if you look carefully enough! 😉

Filed under: Alternate Reality Game (ARG), Articles, Featured, Interviews by Jenni Powell
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The crafting movement is alive and well and attracting some young creative innovators. Gone are the days when the idea of making craft conjured up images of shellacked mini bagel magnets with bow ties and googly eyes. Even web guru Mark Frauenfelder, editor of the venerable tech culture site Boing Boing, knows that crafting is cool. His book, Made by Hand: Searching for Meaning in a Throwaway World, touts the merits of the craft and DIY communities. Group of talented artists are sprouting up all over the country. Independent design shows like Unique LA and Renegade Craft Fair are filled with imaginative people who create hand-made treasures.

So where does this craft movement find a home in the fashion world? Ask designer, stylist, craft maven Kit Scarbo. A popular Season 4 Project Runway alumn (known formerly as “Kit Pistol”), Scarbo currently designs for Etnies, lectures on fashion, and works as a stylist and apparel designer. For more than a year, Scarbo’s web series Craft Club for Alloy Media on Teen.com has been offering fun style tips and the steps for creating fashion forward accessories. Tubfilter met up with Scarbo to find out more about her new design projects, shooting episodes of Craft Club, and what so fun about getting crafty.

Tubefilter: How did Teen.com approach you for this project?

Kit Scarbo: I met the Teen.com people through Alloy Media. They interviewed me when I launched my spring collection for Etnies in New York. At the time I was working on my own craft web series that I had started with a group of girlfriends called the Hard Craft Social Club. That show was more adult. We included a drink of the month that went with our craft. Alloy Media really loved it. They asked me to create a teen based craft series for them.

Tubefilter: How are the episodes filmed?

KS: We shoot four episodes at a time. About a month ahead I will start brainstorming crafts and pitch it to Teen.com and get some feedback. We develop the craft and then shoot it cooking show style. Since we shoot four in a day, I have to plan out all of the steps which is kind of exhausting, but it’s fun and it makes the filming go a lot faster.

Tubefilter: Is it a single camera shoot?

KS: We started with one camera and now we have two. We shoot with one close-up on the side and another front camera. We also have someone taking still pictures, so that viewers can follow the directions better. When people watch the video, they aren’t necessarily making the craft at the same time, so we post instructions and images online for every step.

Tubefilter: What are some of the techniques that help your viewers be able to see what you are making?

KS: They shoot my hands. Some of the details are small. We make rings and earrings and show sewing or glueing small pieces. Sometimes we move the camera to behind my shoulder for an overhead shot. That way the viewers can see the way their hands would be making the craft. When a project has a lot of steps, it helps to watch from the perspective of how it will look when you make it.

Tubefilter: Of all of the Craft Club episodes you have shot for Teen.com, what project was your favorite?

KS: We made a stripe scarf. It was a really fun episode because the technique was great for teen girls or for anyone. That’s what I love about Craft Club. It is not about making cheesy crafts. We don’t make tchotchkes that are going to sit on your shelf and collect dust. For this episode, we made a nautical scarf for summer. For the project, we took masking tape and laid it on the scarf, then sprayed it with paint, let it dry, pulled the tape off. It would work for items you already have in your closet. We try to get the idea across, that you don’t always have to go out and buy things. It is not about knocking off designers. It is about taking current fashion trends and creating something.

Tubefilter: Have you met any of your Craft Club fans and people who have made some of the projects from watching the videos?

KS: I get emails from viewers. People send pictures of their version of the craft. It’s fun. Craft Club is one of the parts of Teen.com that gets the most hits which is always cool for me to hear.

What I like about doing a show for teen girls like Craft Club is that it is about girls who want to be creative. They are girls or guys who love Project Runway and want to be spend time with their friends talking to each other and making something. It is really fun to inspire teens to talk about fashion and be fashionable, and to learn that crafting is not just for your grandma. It’s for us. I get crafty with my girlfriends all the time.

Tubefilter: How many more episodes have you shot?

KS: Every Thursday a new episode comes out. We have shot enough for the next 2 months. The last episode we filmed is the first time I am hosting with a celebrity guest. I can’t tell you who it is, but it’s very cool. She’s a cute teen star. We make a necklace inspired by the Chanel Spring collection.

Tubefilter: Now that you have done a reality competition show and a web series, how does all of this on camera work affect your work as a designer and your career?

KS: I definitely didn’t expect it when I went to school for fashion design. I just wanted to make clothes. The coolest thing about being on Project Runway and doing Craft Club is the perspective I get and the knowledge I gain as a artist in watching myself make something. I get ideas by observing from outside myself and being able to judge and critique my own work in a positive and interesting way. Training myself as a host is really great too. Being able to share things with people trough the web videos is so viral. I love that people don’t have to wait around.

Tubefilter: What other projects do yo have coming up?

KS: I am going to work at Dancing with the Stars dressing the judges and Tom Bergeron. I will still be working at E! dressing the hosts of the online news division. For Etnies we are launching the Fall 10 collection. We have a holiday collection coming out after that. I have also started teaching. Recently I taught an all day seminar at the Art Institute in Sacramento on concept development.

Tubefilter: Do you have any other ideas for web series you’d like to do?

KS: I do I want to start doing fashion video, instead of exhibiting my collection via print or lookbooks. I have artsy Cindy Sherman-esque idea about how I want to present to designs.

New episodes of Craft Club come out every Thursday on Teen.com. That’s today, so here’s the new one:

Filed under: Articles, Fashion, Featured, Interviews, Teen.com, Web Series by Julie Wolfson
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It’s the not too distant future. Denton Sparks is an elite, covert, one-man assassin squad. He’s on a secret mission to rid both the on and offline worlds of the Spam King, a dangerous computer hacker responsible for the financial collapse and ensuing destruction of at least two island nations.

The assignment would be suicide for you or me, but for Sparks, it’s just another day on the job. He has the paramilitary training of a Jason Bourne and the Twitter presence of an Ashton Kutcher. Dude’s addicted to social networking.

So begins Status Kill, a brand new web series that premiered yesterday at a blip.tv screening and is set to drop online next week.

Created by Jesse Cowell (who online video fans will recognize as the creator of the mixed live-action/animated series, Drawn by Pain, and Red vs. Blue forum members will recognize as Jeskid), the show is equal parts action flick, clever comedy, and social commentary.

In the world of Status Kill, special operations units are given access to TweetFacester, the world’s biggest social network. It’s the government’s attempt to keep isolated individuals sane with at least some semblance of human interaction.

Sparks (played by Ayinde Howell) logs into the social network via a portable user interface. With a simple voice command, a Minority Report-inspired screen (designed by Chris Dimino) automagically appears before Sparks’ eyes, illuminating his friends list. Sparks beams in the glow of this holographic display, content to immerse himself with the fickle obligations of a virtual world while at work and under heavy enemy fire.

It’s a fantastic premise that stems from Cowell’s own internal struggle with how to approach the ever-evolving rules of communication in a digital age. His love/hate relationship with Facebook and Twitter spawned a character that takes social network obsession to an extreme. When you watch the show, you can’t help but think about and evaluate your own real world and virtual connections.

I’ll be surprised if the show doesn’t gain any traction. It’s too relatable. As Cowell says, “You either are Sparks, you know a person who is Sparks, or you hate Sparks, but like the show’s critique on social networking.” If the show does do well, expect to see further installments focus on other hot button technology topics, like privacy or contextual advertising.

Before the official online debut next Wednesday, be sure to connect with Status Kill on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. And yes, Cowell understands the “hypocrisy of ‘discussing’ all that’s right and wrong” about social networking and then asking you to become fans of or follow his show on those very same social networks. As I said before, Cowell has a love/hate relationship with modern methods of virtual communication.

Filed under: Featured, News, Reviews, Web Series by Joshua Cohen
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It’s back. Embassy Row, the producers behind Google original series PopTub Daily and FAILBlog, have launched the second version of Win/Fail, a YouTube trivia-based interactive game show. The Win/Fail reload will feature former child star Dustin Diamond, better known as Screech from Saved By The Bell, as the show’s narrator and host.

In its first iteration, Win/Fail garnered over 18 million views, as users clicked in-video answer choices to proceed onto the next round of video questions. v2 boasts a real prize this time (a Sony Bloggie), as opposed to the Rickroll at the end of v1. The game show is an example of the new breed of innovative interactive storytelling that is gaining popularity among creators on YouTube.

After producing 450 episodes of PopTub Daily, a daily best-of-YouTube show, the producers had amassed “a staggering, even embarrassing, amount of YouTube knowledge.” Naturally, a game show was the best outlet for that library of YouTube trivia.

For those of you who want to study up before the show, the producers suggest Greg Rutter’s youshouldhaveseenthis.com and the YouTube Charts page. And here’s a little bonus quiz for you: Who was the voice of Win/Fail v1?

Filed under: Articles, News, Web Series, YouTube by Drew Baldwin
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Seth Green is producing a web series.

ControlTV

In June, at Digitas’ Digital Content NewFront, the Emmy Award-winning creator of Robot Chicken pitched his idea for an online original program to Madison Avenue’s finest.

At the time, he called the project URule. Green billed it as “The Truman Show, except that Truman is a willing volunteer,” which basically means Green and co-creator Matthew Senreich would cast a typical, single, unemployed 20-something male and then monitor him 24 hours a day for a six week period. His every choice – from what underwear he puts on in the morning to which potential sexual partners he should encounter – would then be decided by online, real-time voting mechanisms and a live, internet audience.

Within the past three months, the name’s changed from URule to ControlTV and the show’s been greenlit for production. The Ford Motor Company and Sprint Nextel are footing the bill. While ControlTV‘s yet-to-be-named star looses his free will, he’ll be driving the 2011 Ford Fiesta and talking on Sprint’s HTC EVO 4G Phone.

Voyeurs will be able to watch ControlTV anytime, but highlights of each day’s events will be edited into an episode of the ControlTV web series. Digital Broadcasting Group (who’s also listed as an Executive Producer of the program) will then distribute the episode across its video network. Production is slated to begin this Fall.

Dan 3.0

If the premise of the show sounds familiar, that’s because it is. At the beginning of August, YouTube Rubik’s Cube sensation, Dan Brown and new media studio, Revision3 launched Dan 3.0. For a full year, Brown will be bound to attempt whatever feats the Revision3 community at large desires. Viewers propose tasks on the Dan 3.0‘s channel, Brown accepts the ones with the most votes, and documents his efforts in daily videos.

So far the series is doing well, racking up over 40,000 views per episode on Brown’s YouTube channel and, according to sources, at least as many views on Revision3.

The Hollywood Approach vs. the Web Approach to Online Video

ControlTV and Dan 3.0 certainly share some similarities, but it’s more interesting to look at their differences. They approach online video from two distinct production ideologies.

ControlTV comes from Hollywood. The show was pitched, refined, and pitched again to potential sponsors for at least a year before any type of production took place. Its star hasn’t yet been announced. The series will last for six weeks. Distribution, promotion, and all other media efforts will treat the program like a theatrical release, trying to get as many view counts as possible within that 42-day window.

Dan 3.0 is born and bred on the web. One day, Brown decided to create the show, using mostly his own resources to make it happen. Before he launched, he pitched the program to Revision3. They saw an opportunity and decided to come along for the ride. Brown has a sizable YouTube following that guarantees him tens of thousands of views per episode. The show is inexpensive to produce. It will be produced for 12 months, giving it more than enough time to grow organically and bring relevant sponsors in along the way.

I’m not saying either one of these approaches is better or has the potential to be more successful than the other, and it’s certainly not a zero sum game. ControlTV and Dan 3.0 could both become case studies on how to create a hit online video show. But the dissimilar origins and execution of each program are worth noting.

Come the conclusion of Dan 3.0 in August 2011, we’ll have a better idea of which show and what approach to online video came out on top.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, News, Production Companies, Web Series by Joshua Cohen
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